2nd Philippine Queer Geographies: Gender, Sexuality and Space

by Raquel Najja Hao

In line with the recently held UP Diliman Pride month, the Department of Geography facilitated the 2^nd Philippine Queer Geographies last November 15, 2018 at the CSSP Pavilion 2 Conference Room, University of the Philippines Diliman.

The forum was organized in cooperation with the UP Diliman Gender office, the Geomajie Core group, the Junior Philippine Geographical Society - UP Diliman, the Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines and the Youth Against Sexual Harassment. It provided a platform for interrogating variegated issues pertaining to the manifestations of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE) in different spaces.

Opening remarks were given by Geography Department Chairperson Yany P. Lopez, which was then followed by a brief message from Cindy Cruz-Cabrera of the Diliman Gender Office. The speakers provided valuable insight to the inherently spatial dynamics of gender and sexuality in their respective workplaces—professor Alvin B. Yapan talked about the spaces of production of films, while Professor Bernadette V. Neri discussed spaces in the creation of literary work. The presentations were followed by a reaction from John Andrew G. Evangelista of the CSSP Department of Sociology. An open forum then further explored the role of gender, sexuality and space in the production of sexual identities, practices, subjectivities and embodiments in the Philippines.

Also in attendance were faculty members Mylene Hazel de Guzman, Maria Celeste H. Hermida, Raquel Najja Hao and Simeona Martinez.